The summer so far - Aston Villa

One of the most talked about teams of the summer by far. New manager in charge, departure of key players, and also linked to some good players too. Even though it has been described as tough times at Aston Villa, it must also be pretty exciting for them with a complete change around of personnel. The loss of Ashley Young to Man Utd and Stewart Downing to Liverpool will be tough for some fans to take. But those signings alone brought in £40 million to the club, which for any team, let alone Aston Villa, this is a lot of money. It's important for Randy Lerner to re invest this money and give it to Alex McLeish in order for him to re build the side and certainly give some much needed strength in depth too. This to me was Villa's problem last term, their lack of depth. They did very well to cope and it also gave the opportunity for some bright young players to get their chance in the first team, like Barry Bannan and Cieron Clark. Also, the emergence of Marc Albrighten was another bright spark in the Villa squad last term.



First signing was a much needed one to replace the departing Brad Friedel. Villa have certainly successfully acieved this by signing Shay Given, who a couple of years ago was rated one of the, if not the, best keeper in the Premiership. He is experienced, agile and is a fantastic shot stopper. Villa fans couldn't have hoped for a better replacement between the sticks. Now on to the replacements for the wide players and one name keeps cropping up in the papers and on the sports news, Charles N'Zogbia. I believe he is a very talented player when given the freedom to play further forward. He was a huge reason why Wigan kept their Premier League status last term, with his ability to run with the ball and strike it so cleanly with his left foot. We shall have to watch this space to see if this transfer will develop.



The replacements are important for Aston Villa, as is the form of the current squad next season, in particular whether Darren Bent will continue firing on all cylinders. But McLeish must bring in some additional players and bolster the suad up as much as possible. Villa are a team that should be competing closer to the top of the table and certainly challenging for 5th, 6th and 7th. The league will be far more exciting this coming season if Villa can improve their squad just like teams around them last season are doing so. Sunderland are a prime example of this.

Villa fan's would love to hear from you and get your opinions. Is McLeish the right man? What players do you want coming into your squad?

Paul Scholes has finally found his voice

Paul Scholes has always been known as one of the quietest players in the game. You rarely saw him in interviews, or read an interview from him. He was never in the tabloids for any wrong doing, or right doing for that matter. Just a quiet type, which in today's society I have to say at times it was quite refreshing. A humble guy off the field, who put his family before anything else.

But now Paul Scholes is retired...

Since his announcement, I have been amazed how many interviews I have read from him, and how expressive he has become with his views. He is certainly "Mr Man Utd" and has a fierce dislike for all their rivals, Liverpool, Chelsea, Arsenal and Man City. He spoke out recently about the interest United had shown in Arsenal's Samir Nasri, claiming that he should leave a club that's not moving forward and saying all negative things about Arsenal and the way the club is run. I find it fascinating how a player so quiet retires from his playing career and finds this voice out of no where, and more importantly in not a very respectful manner either.

It hasn't ended there though. In a recent interview with ESPN, he started talking down the English National team, saying it was "laughable" to consider them as even contenders for the next world cup, because so many of the squad are playing for a move to a bigger club. Every single player wants to move to a big club, so why wouldn't they want to play well during an International game to attract further interest? Has Scholes spoken to these players? Does he know that that's the only reason why they play for their country? Who are these players?
This makes me angry that a player who retires from Internationals at just 29 years of age to concentrate and prolong his club career, has a negative opinion like this. Contradictory slightly? Well, I believe so. He has put more importance on his club than his country, no?

My advise to Mr Scholes is to either keep that opinion to himself, or instead of hiding behind small comments, why doesn't he come out and name these players? Go the full Monty. Maybe he is right? But for everyone reading these constant negative comments, it seems like he is just frustrated with life without playing anymore and taking it out on anybody else.

What are your views? Let me know